Bike theft leaves four-year-old boy 'horrified'

A father says his four-year-old son has been left "horrified" after his specially-modified motocross bike was stolen.

Thieves managed to remotely open a van containing Cooper's bike, which was parked outside the family home in Chellaston, Derby, on 31 July.

A pledge had been made to eventually pass the bike on to the family of Cooper's friend Teddy, who had also ridden it before he died from cancer at the age of six earlier this year.

Police said officers were investigating the theft and appealed for anyone with information to contact them.

Cooper's main sponsor - Paul Grimshaw Vehicle Movements - has since bought him a new bike so he can continue to race.

However, Cooper's father Callum said his son was so worried "bad guys were coming" that he was having nightmares and had taken to sleeping in his parents' room.

He said: "Cooper was horrified at the theft, he doesn't understand that there's people out there who don't care.

"He told me 'daddy I don't want to live in England any more'."

Callum said the family of Cooper's friend Teddy had asked if they could have the bike when he was finished with it, because it was the last bike he rode before his death in April.

Teddy, from Rotherham, had neuroblastoma, a rare, aggressive and complex cancer most common in children under five, according to Cancer Research UK.

Callum said: "I feel I've let Teddy's dad down with it being taken."

Teddy's father Richard said the theft was "disappointing" and "a shame".

"Someone knows it is a children's bike as soon as they take it," he said.

"Now Cooper can't have fun on it."

He said they wanted to give it to their other son, aged three, after Cooper had finished with it.

"It would have been nice for him to have the bike Ted had, " he said.

Callum said both his house and the neighbouring property in Royal Approach had cameras but it appeared the thieves disabled them so the theft was not recorded.

He added there was a reward for the return of the bike and no questions would be asked.

"We just want it back," he said. "Even if someone brings it on behalf of who took it."

Derbyshire Police said the theft of an electric motocross bike had been reported to the force and inquiries were continuing.

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